Yankees' bullpen locks down win over Red Sox

BOSTON – Dellin Betances said he tries not to look over his shoulder on every pitch, but as he fired fastballs to Mike Napoli on Saturday, he just couldn't help himself. The young Yankees reliever checked the center-field scoreboard for a radar reading and saw 101 mph for the first time in his life.

"There's days that the ball feels like it's coming out better," Betances said. "And today was one of those days."

Consider it a powerful statement from the most consistent part of the Yankees' roster. After a rough night in Texas earlier in the week, the back end of the bullpen was dominant again in a 6-4 Yankees win against the Red Sox at Fenway Park.

Shawn Kelley got a strikeout to bail the Yankees out of a jam in the fifth, Betances retired five straight batters, and David Robertson finished off his 28th save. The Yankees' offense — the least consistent part of their roster — took advantage of early walks, then hit the ball hard in the late innings, to get the Yankees' second win in the past seven games.

A win in Sunday's series finale would let the Yankees settle for a split of this six-game road trip when they played two of the worst teams in baseball, failed to fully capitalize, but might not completely crumble.

"I feel like the game moves faster when we score more runs and the bullpen pitches well," Robertson said.

Last time they pitched, Betances allowed a grand slam and Robertson very nearly blew a save — he allowed two runs and loaded the bases in the ninth — but they had three days off leading into Saturday's game, which was predictably another close one for the Yankees. Well rested, the relievers were back to their old selves.

Betances opened the eighth inning with a Napoli strikeout. The Yankees' in-house radar gun had that at-bat's final three pitches at 100 mph. The scoreboard registered 101 for one of them.

"How could you not have fun watching that?" Robertson said. "He threw 101 today. Wow. I'm lucky if I hit 93, and he's pumping it in at 101."

Robertson pitched the next inning and struck out the leadoff man before finishing off yet another two-run win for the Yankees.

"Obviously I want to go back out there as soon as possible (after the Texas game)," Betances said. "But I have the confidence in myself and the rest of the group that whenever we get that chance we're going to make the best out of it."

The Yankees' lineup made the best out of three straight walks to open the third inning. Trailing 3-0 at the time, the Yankees turned that opportunity into four runs. Two came on a bloop double by Derek Jeter, and another came on a soft line drive by Carlos Beltran. Balls weren't hit hard, but the Yankees took advantage of the situation.

"Whenever you get three free base runners with nobody out, you've got to do something," manager Joe Girardi said.

The harder hits came later, when Mark Teixeira clubbed his 19th home run of the year and Stephen Drew got his first Yankees hit, an RBI double. From there, the bullpen kept the lead intact.

"That's what we want to do," Robertson said. "And that's what we're here to do."